Isopterophobia
by 17stepsdown
Summary: After a Mission in the Land of the Rivers, Deidara is immediately dispatched on another mission with the Zombie Duo leaving Sasori to Tobi as a temporary partner. Their mission: Track down a Ninja rumored to be destroying villages single-handedly. Sasori is confident he can do it but until he realizes what kind of weapon this Ninja is using: Termites.
1. Prologue

**Isopterophobia**

**Prologue**

Night, the sun had set not too long ago over the horizon. It was a clear atmosphere, not a cloud in the sky to cover up the twinkling stars and the bright full moon. In the forest below, two bodies lay unconscious, both naked while cuts and burns decorated their skin. Their blood dyed the grass around them red as a few kunai and shuriken stood out obviously against the surrounding trees, signs of a fight.

The grass began to melt into a new shape as it the thing rose from the ground, a large Venus flytrap. The plant separated from it's two parts to reveal a head with a green patch of hair. One side was white while the other was black, the separation between the two colors was clear cut straight through the middle of the head and neck down. It faced the two bodies, then smiled.

"_Excellent, _**there's no annoying clothing to rip through to the flesh.** _Do ya think the two are being nice to us? _**I don't care if they are.**"

Eventually, the whole being rose from the ground. Once it did, it made its way over to the first body. A finger twitched, causing it to pause.

"**Damn**..._Looks like they didn't finish_." It frowned.

The shinobi slowly gained consciousness, first feeling with his hand what felt like grass. He struggled to open his eyes, still heavy with grogginess. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He could see something stand before him. He groaned a little as he looked up slowly, it had a black cloak that was hard to see in the dark. But something stood out.

"R-red...clouds..." He gasped, eyes suddenly widening as he continued to look up. His breath hitched, he could only one word. "A-Akatsuki!"

"_What should we do? _**Just eat him alive. **_What about the screaming? _**Just eat the neck first, nothing can talk without a voice box.**"

_Eat me alive? No! _The shinobi thought, he opened his mouth to speak but was far too terrified to move. He was paralyzed as the cloaked plant man kneeled down and stared at him hungrily, the only human looking eye it had was wide with excitement. It grinned.

"_Thank you for the food. _**Just eat you idiot.** _Right, right, shut up._"

The shinobi could only watch while he was paralyzed with fear as the thing leaned down to his neck and opened his mouth wide. He tried hard to make a sound, any sound at all, a scream, a word, a sentence. But his fate was sealed.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! Just another story to fuel my inspiration and something to else to work on just in case I get a block when I write for Little Deidara. I heard the best way to beat writers block was to work on something else and feel productive so here it is! Also, this story is to compensate for the fact that a lot of time comes in between chapters for Little Deidara so it's kinda a distraction for the wait. Please Review if you'd like!**

**It was nice to meet you!**


	2. Land of the Rivers

**Finishing Up in the Land of Rivers **

"_AAAAAHHHH!_"

A blonde haired Ninja tipped his hat up to look to the sky. Grey-blue eyes watched the night sky curiously, he smirked. He wore a standard Sand Shinobi uniform as he waited for his partner to finish dressing beside him. Their former clothes were folded up neatly on the grassy ground, black cloaks with red clouds. The blonde ninja still smirked in amusement as he looked towards his partner who was zipping up the vest.

"Did you hear that, Master?" He spoke, a bit of cockiness in his voice. He waited eagerly for his partner's reply.

The red haired ninja didn't reply immediately, busy finishing up his disguise.

"You think I didn't? I'm not deaf, brat. Zetsu probably got started with the bodies." The redhead turned to his partner and held out his hand.

"Give me the hat, Deidara. I'll put our uniforms in Hiruko until our mission is over."

Deidara nodded, standing up and taking off his hat, he handed it over to his partner. The other took it and moved to get the other folded pieces of clothing. The bomber's eyes followed him, watching as made preparations to leave the area. He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, lifting both arms to stretch and started to adjust the Sand Shinobi uniform. His hair was put down from its usual ponytail to make wearing the headpiece easier. Now put into a low ponytail, the kind of hairstyle he used to have before he joined the Akatsuki.

"Man, these uniforms we took from those Ninja are pretty uncomfortable. Definitely not something someone would wear happily on a daily basis, yeah?"

The redhead was leaned over his puppet, the one he called Hiruko. It was open, revealing the red cloth inside. He had placed the folded clothing neatly inside before using chakra strings to close the lid. It made a clacking sound, Hiruko's mouth gaped open in a ready position for use.

"The shinobi of the sand do."

"Hey, did you have to wear this too? I mean, before you left Sunagakure and all, hm?" Deidara put a hand on his hip and pointed at his partner.

"I wore it a few times. I assure you, wearing it again doesn't make me feel any happier." He pulled out an empty scroll and layed it open in the grass. Making a few hand signs there was a puff of white smoke. Hiruko had been sealed. Finished with preparations, he put away the scroll.

Deidara folded his arms behind his head casually as he stared at the sky. He wore black fingerless gloves to cover up his hand mouths as they chewed on some clay to keep them behaved.

"Remind me again, Master Sasori. What was the mission?"

Sasori turned to him with a dangerous look in his brown eyes. Deidara wasn't fazed, he was used to this treatment after all. "Is it always questions with you, brat? Weren't you listening?"

"Mm...yeah, I was...listening." He stammered a little before speaking again in a hasty tone. "But just to be safe, tell me again, hm?"

The puppeteer glared, if he had lungs he'd have sighed. "Fine, but I'll only say it once so listen up. Our mission is to assassinate a man in the Land of the Rivers named Hiraku Haruki believed to have information on the Akatsuki. In exchange for a petty amount of money, he's giving it to the Kazekage of the Sand Village. He's also requested for two shinobi from the sand to accompany him and keep him safe on the trip there. Right now, we're disguising ourselves as Sand Shinobi who are supposed to be escorting him. Once we've got him in a secluded area, we'll kill him and make sure none of the information gets to its destination. Zetsu is probably taking care of the bodies as we speak. For now, just follow my lead. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible." Sasori started down the path while Deidara followed, arms still folded casually behind his head. He stared at the back of his partners head, the sky was no longer amusing to watch and the screams he heard were gone.

"So, how do you know about this escort thing, yeah? I may have not been listening but I don't remember hearing about having to be disguised. If he told us anything, he probably told us to assassinate a man with information he wants to give to the Sand Village. I don't remember him saying anything about an escort, hm."

"I have spies in the Sand Village. After we got the mission I had him dig up information for us and report it. This is the most subtle way to do it, despite the hassle."

Deidara cocked his head, now puzzled. "Look, I'm not gonna ask about how or when you got the report but it's not like I got to hear it. I get it, you're taking the lead but how am I supposed to know what I'm supposed to do at whatever time, hm?"

The redhead gazed ahead, he could see a lamppost that glowed softly up the dirt road. He could make out a man leaning against it with crossed arms in the darkness. Their client didn't seem very happy, of course, it took a while for Deidara to figure out how to put on the uniform. "Just trust me on this and stop asking questions already. We're nearly at the rendezvous point and the client doesn't look happy."

"Isn't a bit of risk going in without a henge? If he knows anything about us than he'll know our identities too. Not yours since you rarely get out of Hiruko but what about mine, hm?"

"If that's what you're so worried about I suggest you shut up and keep your face in the shadows. So stop asking so I can get this over with."

"Huh?" The blonde blinked and leaned to the side to look ahead of Sasori. They were approaching a man who looked to have slightly long black hair and a goatee. His arms were crossed over some regular civilian clothing and his features held an impatient look. Deidara smirked for a second before moving his arms to hang by his side. From his experience, Sand Ninja we're pretty uptight individuals, so that meant while he was playing the part he should also act like he had a stick up his ass.

Sasori frowned a little as he saw the clients expression. _Even if we're just supposed to kill him, I still hate to keep others waiting..._

* * *

The client lifted his head to get a better look at the newcomers. Two of them, they wore standard Sand Ninja attire as they approached. As they moved into he light he could see one had short messy red hair while the other had blonde hair. Hiraku twitched in annoyance as he pushed himself off the lamppost, arms still crossed. He scowled.

"You're late! By a whole hour!" He shouted.

_An hour? Did we waste so much time already? Oh well, the brat's fault. _Sasori paused and bowed. His partner saw and followed in suite, then straightened up. The redhead glanced aside, Deidara had kept his head tilted down to shadow his face. Looking back to their client, Sasori mustered up the most dutiful voice he could remember from the sand. It had been a while, since he had had to introduce himself in such a manner. He just hoped his introduction wasn't outdated.

"We apologize for being so late. If you can't tell already, we're Shinobi from the Sand. You requested for an escort there?"

"Yeah, I did but I thought Shinobi from one of the Five Great Hidden Villages would at least be punctual! What is this? I have information on the infamous Akatsuki! I should be treated far better!" Hiraku snapped, shouting at the two. Sasori bristled while Deidara tried desperately to not smile or show any signs of amusement. They could barely believe it, if this idiot knew anything he wouldn't have shouted it to the world. Unless...

_He doesn't know anything, he just wants the cash..._The duo thought simultaneously.

_All the more reason to kill him for wasting my time!_ The redhead raged mentally.

_ You mean the Akatsuki's time Master Sasori, the Akatsuki's..._ Deidara sighed.

* * *

It was nearing morning, they were getting close to the Land of the Wind's border. Currently, they were walking in the forest since the dirt path lead straight into the Land of the Wind. They had gone off course, Sasori had made the excuse that there was skirmish that had happened recently a ways up from the road so they had to go around. The real plan, find a place to kill their annoying client: Hiraku. Sasori had signalled Deidara to start producing something with his clay, he already had it ready afterall with all that chewing to keep his handmouths behaved under the gloves. Sasori had walked ahead while Deidara kept a low profile behind Hiraku. Best not draw attention to himself, but that was easy since their target wasn't all that smart.

Deidara had pulled off his glove and was casually sculpting his clay. He already knew what kind of animal he'd use this time, bugs were always abundant in the forest anyway. He started to shape the last few features, some eyes, the ends of the legs, the last of the legs since there were so many. He smirked, it was done.

"Hm."

Hiraku stopped, turning to the blonde with a curious expression. "Eh? Something up?"

"Mr. Hiraku." Sasori stood in front of them, still facing the forest. The client turned again, looking at one before looking back at the other. They stopped walking, now the blonde one was looking at him, and the red haired guy was facing away. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face, he began to feel uneasy.

"Yeah? What?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to end the mission here."

Hiraku had a really bad feeling now, he felt his heart begin to beat faster as the uneasy feeling he got earlier transformed into fear. What was going on? He whipped his head over to the red haired Ninja in front of him.

"End the mission? But we haven't gotten to the Villa-!" He was interrupted, suddenly wrapped up in Deidara's latest creation, the C1 Centipede. Sasori turned to the two of them. He looked over the clay creature for a few seconds as it nearly squeezed the life out of their target. He furrowed his eyebrows in disapproval.

"Brat, loosen it. I want to talk to him for a while."

"Whaaat?" Deidara blinked in bewilderment. "Won't he just scream? We'll get in trouble like that, yeah. Especially so close to Hidden Sand, hm."

The puppeteer narrowed his eyes dangerously at his partner. "Just one question, relax. If he gets too loud you have permission to shut him up."

"...I'm not sure about this Master." He trailed off at the end. Cautious.

"Brat! If I tell you to do something, you do it! Got that?" Sasori barked, impatiently.

"Fine! Fine!" Deidara shrank back, surrendering."But if we get in trouble and fail this mission the blame's on you, hm." He pointed at the redhead.

"Whatever."

Sasori strode over to Hiraku and stared him blankly in the face as he struggled to get air. Terrified, eyes wide in fear, the target continued to make muffled sounds. Deidara huffed in doubt, still hesitant as he willed the Centipede to loosen it's grip on its captive. The head of the Centipede unwrapped, giving the target room to gasp for fresh oxygen and rather loudly. Deidara was just about ready to re-wrap the Centipede around his face but Sasori gestured for him not to.

"W-who _are_ you people?! Y-You're not sand shinobi!" He breathed in between his words. He tried to use strength and wriggle or break the Centipede, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Actually, I _am _a Sand Shinobi or _was. _But that's not the point here, the point is you claim to have information on the Akatsuki."

"Yeah? So what? What's it to you!?"

"Keep your voice down or we'll kill you." Sasori's expression darkened in annoyance, striking fear in Hiraku who gulped. "Right then, so what did you plan to tell the Kazekage about us? What is it you really know?"

"Us?" He repeated, taking a few moments to piece things together before he finally realized. "You're Akatsuki!"

"Congratulations. But that's still not the point. Answer my question and you'd better be thorough when you do."

"L-look! Don't kill me!" He pleaded, a terrified look on his face as he fell to his knees and started to beg for forgiveness from the Akatsuki member who now revealed himself.

"I'll do anything! Just don't hurt me! Please!"

Sasori growled in frustration, this guy wasn't coughing up answers any time soon. He twitched his fingers, he felt like strangling this man to make him quit begging for forgiveness and answer the damn question.

"Master Sasori, it's pointless, just kill him. After all, you're the one who wanted to get this mission over with already, yeah? And he's gonna die in the end no matter how you look at it."

The puppeteer glanced at Deidara, he was giving him a look that said 'get it over with already'. To be honest, he did have a point. This guy was a waste of time so why waste more of it on him? Being so close to the border, they could barely afford to stick around much longer.

"...Fine. Kill him."

The moment he said it a wide slightly maniacal grin had come upon his face. His eyes gleamed as he was happy to carry out his master's order. With a quick movement, he made a hand sign.

"_Katsu!_"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you'd like.**


End file.
